Control device for railway traffic controlling systems



S. N. \NHGHT A ril 21, 19360 cowmonpmvzcs FOR RAILWAY TRAFFIC commonmweSYSTEMS Filed Jan. 30, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l N? mm mm S. N. VWGHT Aprifi22K, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Jan. 50,

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Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL DEVICE FORRAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING SYSTEMS Application January 30, 1933, SerialNo. 654,204

2 Claims.

This invention relates to control devices for railway trafilccontrolling systems and more particularly to a miniature device forcontrolling the operation of a traffic controlling device and for 5displaying an indication of the operated position thereof.

It has been found particularly efficient in directing traflic from acentral point through sections of a railway system to employ a miniaturetrack diagram at the control point which simulates the actual layout ofthe particular section of the railway system, from which track diagramthe operator may plan the various movements, and in which the progressof traffic and the position of the various traihc controlling devicesmay be indicated. However, in the present control systems of this type,the means for controlling the operation of the various trafficcontrolling devices do not directly convey to the operator theirassociation with the corresponding parts of the miniature track diagram,nor does the operated position thereof directly display the effect thatthe resulting operation of the associated trailic controlling device isto have on the condition of the railway system.

In view of the above and other considerations, it is proposed inaccordance with the present invention to provide a miniature controlmeans for a railway traific controlling device which may be mounteddirectly upon a miniature representation of the trafiic controllingdevice-controlled thereby, and which is arranged to actuate miniatureindicating means typifying operated positions of the actual trafiiccontrolling device. It

is further proposed to incorporate an indicator within the control meanswhich is arranged to inform that the control device is actually assuminga position corresponding to that displayed by the control means.

Other objects, purposes and characteristic features of the presentinvention will appear as the description thereof progresses, duringwhich, ref erences will be made to the accompanying drawings which showthe invention in a manner to make it easily understood rather than withthe view of showing the particular construction preferably employed inpractice, and in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of a form of a control de vice constructed inaccordance with the present invention with parts thereof broken away andsectioned to more clearly show the construction thereof.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic showing of simple applications of the controldevice.

Fig. 3 diagrammatically illustrates the manner in which the controldevice may be employed in a different arrangement of a railway track.

Fig. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the application of the controldevice in still another arrangement of a railway track.

As one form of the present invention, it is proposed to construct a pushbutton control device, or that is, a device which sets up one controlwhen pushed a first time and when pusheda second time sets up theopposite control. A point 10 indicator is also essential in this type ofcontrol device to indicate the route or the particular control set up bythe last actuation thereof.

A simple arrangement of this push button type control device is shown inFig. l, and is construct- 15 ed about a tubular insulating member 22fixed to a shoulder bushing 23 by screws 24, which bushing 28 may bethreaded into .the panel P. A tubular actuating member 25 is slidablyretained on the tubular member 22 and the operating motion thereof islimited by longitudinal slots 26 therein receiving the screws 24. Theactuating member 25 is biased outwardly by a spring 31 retained betweenan inside annular shoulder in the member 25 and the top of the tubularmem- 25 her 22. A point indicator 2'! is also provided having anintegral collar 28 rotatable between the actuating member 25 and thebushing 23. Likewise, this point indicator 2'! is retained and a slightrotation thereof is permitted by transverse 30 slots 20 therein whichreceive the screws 24.

The lower end of the insulating member 22 has an integral boss 29carrying a pivot pin 30, which pin in turn rotatably holds a fork 3|.The movable fork 31 is biased from a center position by 35 a togglearrangement operating on an arm 32 thereof which toggle arrangementcomprises a rod 33 having a bifurcated head pivotally attached to thearm 32 by a pin 34, and the lower end is slidable through a pin 35rotatably at- 40 tached to the member 22. A compression spring 36 isplaced on the rod 33 between the bifurcated head thereof and the pin 35fixed to the member 22, and obviously is effective to force the lowerend of the arm 32 from its center posi- 45 tion to effect snap actuationof the fork 3| when operated as later described.

As previously mentioned, an operating mechanism must be provided whichwill effect the operation of one contact arrangement when the 50actuating member 25 or push button is depressed a first time, and whichwill effect the releasing of this contact arrangement and the operationof a different contact arrangement when the same push button isdepressed a second time, or 55 in other words, each actuation of asingle push button is to change the condition of control contacts toalternately close first one control circuit and then another.

In order to thus operate contact means, the fork 3| is alternatelyoperated to the left and right by successive actuations of the pushbutton or member 25. To effect operation of the fork 3|, an arm 39 ispivotally fixed to the actuated member 25 by a pin 40 so that itsextreme end rests against the inside surface of the fork 3|. The rightand left bifurcations of the fork 3| carry flat springs 4| and 42, andwith the fork 3| in a position as shown in Fig. 3, the spring 42 engagesa rounded extension 43 of the arm 39 in a manner effective to retain thearm 39 in the position shown, or with its extreme end engaging theinside of the fork-3| at a point on the left of the pivot pin 30. Thesprings 4| and 42 extend beyond, and bear on, the rounded extension 43of the arm 39 to engage a pin 44 extending from the periphery of thepoint indicator bushing 28, and with the fork 3| operated to the rightas shown, the left spring 42 forces the pin 44 to the right therebyrotating the point indicator 21 attached to the bushing 28 inacounterclockwise direction as viewed from the front of the panel P.

It is now obvious that pressing the actuating member 25 will act throughthe arm 39 bearing on the left of the fork 3| to effect rotation thereofin a counter-clockwise direction, and when the fork has thus rotated toa point slightly beyond center, the previously described togglearrangement will act on the arm 32 in a manner tending to cause the fork3| to move to an extreme left hand position. When the actuating member25 is released from its depressed position, the spring 31 is effectiveto return the actuating member 25 to its extreme outer position whichobviously allows the fork 3| to complete its movement, or in other wordsallows the fork to assume a position which is to the left of the centerline of the push button'on an angle similar to that shown in Fig. 1 butobviously to the left instead of right which will be considered reverseoperated position. During rotation of the fork 3| to this left handposition, the spring 4| operates to engage the rounded extension 43 ofthe arm 39 in a manner to produce counterclockwise rotation thereof to aposition wherein the extreme end of the arm 39 engages the insidesurface of the fork 3| at a point to the right of center, or inoppositeposition to that shown in Fig. 1. The upper portion of thespring 4| is also effective to; engage the pin 44 during the reverseoperation of the fork 3| in a manner to rotate the point indicatorsleeve 28 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front of the panelthereby changing the position of the point indicator 2'! to show that achange in the route over the track switch has been set up by theminiature control device.

It will now be obvious that, with the fork 3| thus operated to a lefthand position, and with the end of the arm 39 resting against the righthand inside surface of the fork 3|, a second depression of the member 25will operate the fork 3| as well as the arm 39 back to their position asshown in Fig. 1 and likewise the point indicator 2'! will be operativecounterclockwise to its original position.

A simple contact arrangement is shown in Fig. 1 as a spring contact 46forced into engagement with an associated spring contact 41 when thefork 3| is in the right hand position shown, and a similar opposite pairof contacts 48 and 49 are engaged by the fork 3| when operated to itsleft extreme position. The spring contacts are held in line with thefork 3| by through bolts 50 passing through a boss extending from theside of the tubular member 22 and held by nuts 5|. The spring contactsare separated from each other by insulating spacers 52 and from the bodyof the bolts 50 by any conventional means, such as tubular bushings notshown.

A miniature lamp L'is held within the tubular insulating member 22 by aspring clip 53 and a similar opposite clip not shown, of any usualconstruction, which clips are in turn retained within the tubular member22 by an insulating plug or any other means to rigidly hold the outerends of the clips 53. The top of the actuating member 25 is closed by alens 54 which may be moulded therein thus obviously permitting theemission of light from the lamp L when energized.

A miniature control device suitable for mounting directly on a panelhaving thereon a miniature representation of the layout of the railwaysystem has thus been provided which may be of the push button type, andis arranged to shift the arrangement of routes on the miniature tracklayout in a manner to make the existing conditions of the railway systemalways visible to the operator. An indicator light is provided withinthe miniature control device which may be controlled to inform theoperator concerning the correspondence between the operated position ofthe actual track switch and the position displayed by the indicatoroperated by the miniature control device associated with the switch.Having thus described a miniature control device it is believedexpedient to lend further description to the applications of the deviceto a, few typical arrangements of track switches which it may control.

In Fig. 2, a section of an actual railway system is shown which includesa track switch TS power operated by a switch machine SM to route trafiiceither on a straight through main track or onto a diverging route whichmay be an entrance to a passing siding, and also includes track switchesTS and T8 which may be aligned by operation of the respective switch ma-7 chines SM and 3M to route traffic on a crossover movement between themain track and the passing siding. A control panel P is marked in anyconvenient manner to simulate in miniature this section of the railwaysystem and a miniature control device C is arranged at the junction ofthe two tracks to electrically control the switch machine SM by any ofthe conventional control circuits which are well known and consequentlyhave herein been merely indicated by the dotted line 54. A pointindicator I is shifted by operation of the miniature control device C inthe manner previously described to indicate the routes set up by theoperation of the control device C and the indicating lamp described asbeing within the control device C is effective by any well knowncorrespondence control circuit to indicate when the position of thetrack switch TS corresponds to the position of the point indicator I Asecond miniature control device C is arranged in the cross over betweenthe passing siding and the main track and governs the operation of bothswitch machines SM and 8M as indicated by the dotted line 55. A doublepoint indicator I and I is provided on the control device C andobviously when the control device is operated to reverse the trackswitches TS and T8 the point indicators I and I are rotatedcounter-clockwise to indicate that the cross-over route is aligned.

In Fig. 3, a means is shown for governing the alinement of a routediverging from one track and crossing a second track, which routeincludes a movable point frog MF and a track switch TS the movable pointfrog MF being operated in a conventional manner by one switch machine 8Mthrough a center pivoted lever 56 with a second switch machine SMarranged to operate the track switch TS Both switch machines SM and 3Mare controlled by a single miniature control device C as designated bythe dotted line 62, and this control device is arranged on a panel Phaving a miniature representation of the track layout marked thereonwith a concentric point indicator I operated in the manner previouslydescribed directly from the control device C Two auxiliary pointindicators I and I must be provided in this case which are notconcentric with the control device C These auxiliary indicator points Iand I are operated by connections behind the panel P and consequentlythe means for effecting this operation have been shown dotted in theaccompanying drawings. An arm 51 is to be attached to the control deviceC so as to rotate with the point indicator I and this arm 51 isconnected to one end of the center pivoted lever 58 with the other endof the lever 58 connected to an arm 59 arranged to rotate the indicatorpoint. I about a pivot shaft 68. It is obvious that the point indicatorI is rotated in a similar manner from the arm 51 through the medium ofan associated center pivoted lever 6| so that when the point indicator 1is rotated counter-clockwise by reversing the control device C both thepoint indicators I and I are likewise to be rotated in acounter-clockwise direction to thereby indicate the alinement of acrossing route.

A means for controlling a conventionally arranged double slip switchhaving movable point frogs has been diagrammatically shown in Fig. 4. Inthis arrangement a switch machine SM is employed to operate the lefthand switch points, a second switch machine SM is employed to operatethe right hand points, and a third switch machine SM operates themovable point frogs through a center pivoted lever 65. The track layoutof this switch arrangement is marked on a miniature control panel P butbecause of the complex layout of this arrangement, it is consideredadvisable to mount the miniature control devices C and C beneath thetrack layout instead of directly in the track itself.

Six point indicators are necessary to indicate the alinement of thevarious routes, and these may be operably connected to their associatedminiature control devices by suitable means in the rear of the panelwhich have herein been diagrammatically indicated by dotted lines. Thepoint indicators I" and I may be operably connected through theirrespective arms 68 and 67 to the arm 68 of the miniature control deviceC and the point indicators I and I may be operated in a similar mannerthrough their respective arms 69 and which are interconnected with anarm H of the control device 0*. The point indicator I may be operated byconnecting its arm 12 to an arm 13 of the control device C andrelatively reverse operation of the point indicator P is obtained byconnecting its arm 14 to an opposite arm F5 on the same control device CIt is obvious that, with the control devices in the position shown inFig. 4, a route is set up on the panel P connecting the miniature track18 with track 19, and it may be seen that a movement of the controldevice C in a counter-clockwise direction will operate the pointindicator I to a position aligning a route from track 18 to track and ina similar manner a movement of the control device C in acounter-clockwise direction will actuate the point initiator I to alinea route from track 79 to track iii. In a similar manner it will beobvious that a counter-clockwise movement of the control devices C and Cand a counter-clockwise movement of the control device C will aline aroute on the miniature track diagram of the control panel from track 39to track 8!.

It will be obvious from the above typical arrangements of tracks andswitches that substantially any layout of a railway system may becompletely controlled by miniature control devices arranged to governeach switch or associated switches. The complete layout of such a systemmay be marked a single control panel of comparatively small dimensionswith the miniature control devices mounted thereon so as to be easilymanipulated by an operator and yet which may be eadily associated withthe function which they perform.

The above rather specific description of one form of the presentinvention is given solely by the way of example, and is not intended, inany manner whatsoever, in a limiting sense. It is also to be understoodthat various modifications, adaptations, and alterations may be appliedto meet the requirements of practice, without in any manner departingfrom the spirit or scope of the present invention, except as limited bythe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. In combination, a railway track switch, a control panel having aminiature representation of said track switch marked thereon, aminiature switch point pivotably arranged on said control panel toindicate the alinement of routes over the representation of the trackswitch, a push button operable in concentric relation to said miniatureswitch point, a contact operating member operable to two distinctpositions, means for changing the position of said contact operatingmember upon each actuation of said push button, and means operating saidminiature switch point in accordance with the position of said contactoperating member.

2. In combination, a railway track switch, a control panel having aminiature representation of said track switch marked thereon, aminiature switch point pivotably arranged on said control panel toindicate the alinement of routes over the representation of the trackswitch, a hollow push button operable in concentric relation to saidminiature switch point, an indicating lamp within said push button, acontact operating member operable to two distinct positions, means forchanging the position of said contact operating member upon eachactuation of said push button, and means operating said miniature switchpoint in accordance with the position of said contact operating member.

SEDGWICK N. WIGHT.

